Pipe tong support



April 1941- H. E. GRAU 4 2237.427

PIPE TONG SUPPORT Filed July 1; 1940 fferbez'i E Gz au.

INVENTOVR 1% Q ATTORNEY atented Apr. 8, 1941 PIPE TONG SUPPORT Herbert E. Gran, Pasadena, Calii'., assignor to Byron Jackson 00., Huntington Park, Calif., a

corporation of Delaware Application July 1, 1940, Serial No. 343,451

8 Claims.

This invention relates generally to supports for pipe tongs and the like, and is directed particularly to a tong support or hanger for supporting a well pipe tong in horizontal position while making up or breaking out joints in well pipe.

Certain types of well pipe tongs, such as those used in making up and breaking out joints in a string of well tubing, are customarily manipulated by hand without the aid of a hanger. However, it is sometimes desirable to support such tongs by a hanger suspended in the derrick, and a principal object of this invention is to provide a tong hanger which'may be readily applied to or detached from the levers of conventional tongs now in use to facilitate the use of the tongs either as hand tongs or when supported by the hanger.

A further object is to provide a tong hanger having a socket adapted to encircle the tong lever and enabling the hanger to be applied to the lever from the free outer end thereof and moved lengthwlse along the lever to a position wherein the lever H and inclined toward the tong head I! to longitudinallyof the tong lever to afford two selective points of suspension. As will be described in detail hereinafter, the hanger is bodily adjustable lengthwise of the tong lever and may be clamped to the lever at any adjusted position point of suspension is above the center of gravity of the tong.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a tong hanger which is adjustable lengthwise of the tong lever, and which embodies means for clamping the hanger to the lever in any adjusted position.

A still further object is to provide a tong hanger particularly adapted to be detachably secured to an outwardly tapered tong lever of I-beam crosssection.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of apreferred embodiment, reference being had to the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a tong hanger constructed in accordance with this invention and shown applied to a tubing tong;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation of the tong and hanger shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on line5-5 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the position of the lever in the hanger socket while the hanger is being applied to or removed from the smaller outer end of the lever.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that the novel hanger comprises generally a rigid arm structure 10 extending upwardly from the tong within a limited range of adjustment, to thereby supplement the adjustment of the point of suspension afforded by the eyes I4 and [4.

The tong lever H is more or less uniformly tapered from its inner end outwardly and, as

shown most clearly in Figs. 4 and 5, the lever comprises a relatively thin, flat bar with upwardly extending strengthening ribs l8 and similar downwardly extending ribs I8 providing a cross-section of generally I-beam configuration. A salient feature of the present invention is the provision of a socket portion formed integral with the At opposite sides of the loop 2|, the arm merges into downwardly facing abutment blocks or pads 22 and 23, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3. Each of the blocks 22 and 23 is traversed by a pair of upwardly extending recesses 24 and 25 to loosely receive the upwardly extending ribs I8 on the lever- II, the portions of the blocks extending laterally beyond these recesses forming depending flanges maintaining the hanger in longitudinal alignment with the lever.

A central hub 28 extends upwardly from the lower horizontally extending portion of the loop 2|, and a threaded bore 29 extends vertically through the hub and the loop. A clamping screw 30 threadedly engages the bore and normally projects upwardly beyond the hub into engagement with the under side of the lever. A suitable operating knob 3| is secured to the lower end of the screw, and on turning the knob in the proper direction the lever is firmly clamped between the screw 30 and the spaced blocks 22 and 25. The

spacing of the blocks longitudinally of the lever on opposite sides of the screw rigidly secures the hanger against longitudinal tilting movement relative to the lever.

It will be observed, particularly with reference to Figs. 4, and 6, that the vertical space between the lower surfaces of the blocks 22 and 23 and the upper surface of the hub 28 exceeds the thickness of the web portion of the lever by an amount at least equal to the projecting height of one pair of ribs l8 or IS. The purpose of this clearance will be apparent from a consideration of Fig. 6. Because of the fact that the width of the lever decreases outwardly, the lateral spacing of the ribs i3 and I8 is less at the outer end of the lever than at the central portion thereof, and the width of the central pad portions of the blocks 22 and 23 exceeds that of the web at its outer end. Consequently the upper ribs l8 on the lever must be capable of being disposed below the plane of the under surface of the blocks 22 and 23 when the outer end of the lever is inserted in or withdrawn from the socket. This is effected by retracting the screw 30 to dispose its upper end below the upper surface of the hub 28, thereb permitting the lever to occupy the lower portion of the socket, as indicated in Fig. 6. When the hanger has been moved longitudinally of the lever toward the head of the tong to a point where the width of the web of the lever equals that of the central pad portions of the blocks 22 and 23, the upper ribs I8 will be vertically aligned with the recesses 24 and 25 in the blocks and the clamp screw 30 may be tightened to move the lever upwardly within the socket. In so doing, the ribs l8 are loosely received in the recesses 24 and 25 and the web of the lever is forced into clamping engagement with the under surfaces of the blocks. At the same time, the tops of the ribs engage the bases of the recesses to provide adequate support against lateral tilting of the hanger relative to the lever.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, it will be observed that the width of the recesses 24 and 25 exceeds that of the upper ribs i8 to provide a slight clearance and thus to permit the hanger to be clamped to the lever at any one of several longitudinally spaced positions on the lever. As mentioned previously, this adjustability of the hanger on the lever supplements the adjustment of the suspension cable relative to the hanger by means of the plurality of spaced suspension eyes i4, i4, and makes it possible to obtain perfect longitudinal balance of the suspended mass.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that a tong hanger has been provided which may be quickly and easily applied to and removed from the lever of a hand tong, such as a tubing tong normally used in making up and breaking out joints in a string of oil well tubing. The shape of the socket in the hanger is such as to adapt it to use with conventional tubing tongs having outwardly tapered levers of standard I-beam cross-section, thus enabling such tongs to be used as rotary drill pipe tongs on small diameter drill pipe such as is used on portable drilling rigs. Whenclamped to the lever,thehanger is rigidly braced against both lateral and longitudinal tilting relation to the hanger by reason of the longitudinal spacing of the abutment blocks 22 and 23 and the abutting engagement of the ribs ill with the bases of the recesses 24 and 25.

Although I have shown and described in detail what I now consider a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a pipe tong, the combination with a tong head and a lever extending laterally therefrom, of supporting means comprising a socket member adapted to encircle said lever, a rigid supporting arm extending upwardly from said socket member and having means at its free end for connection with suspension means, said socket member being adjustable longitudinally of said lever and including means for rigidly securing said socket member to said lever in any adjusted position.

2. A pipe tong comprising pipe-encircling means and handle means extending laterally therefrom, and supporting means comprising a rigid arm structure having means at one end for connection with suspension means, and means ad justably securing the opposite .end of said arm structure in rigid relation to said handle means comprising a pair of abutment faces on said arm structure adapted to engage one side of said handle means at longitudinally spaced points thereon, and a clamping element adjustably mounted in said arm structure and adapted to engage the opposite side of said handle means at a point intermediate said longitudinally spaced points.

3. A pipe tong comprising a tong head and a lever extending laterally therefrom, said lever being of substantially I-beam cross-section and having a horizontally extending web portion, and supporting means comprising a rigid arm structure having means at one end for connection with suspension means and having means at its opposite end for connection with said lever, said lastnamed means comprising a plurality of spaced surfaces adapted to abuttingly engage one side of said web portion, and an adjustable clamping element adapted to engage the opposite side of said web portion.

4. A support for pipe tongs and the like, comprising an arm structure having a socket extending therethrough and adapted to slidably receive a tong lever or the like, and means for rigidly securing said lever in said socket comprising a clamping element adjustably mounted in said arm structure and adapted to engage one side of said lever, means on said arm structure engaging the opposite side of said lever at longitudinally spaced points thereon to thereby prevent longitudinal tilting movement of said arm structure relative to said lever, and said arm structure including means engaging said opposite side of said lever at laterally spaced points thereon to thereby prevent transverse tilting movement of said arm structure relative to said lever.

5. In a pipe tong, the combination of: a tong head; a lever; and supporting means detachably secured to said lever, said supporting means comprising a rigid arm structure having a socket extending therethrough and adapted to receive said lever, said arm structure including spaced clamping surfaces on opposite sides of said socket and a clamping element projecting into said socket, said clamping surfaces being engageable with one side of said lever at points spaced longitudinally of said lever, and said clamping element being adjustable into clamping engagement with the opposite side of said lever intermediate said clamping surfaces.

6. A pipe tong as set forth in claim 5, in Which said lever includes a horizontally extending web portion and vertically projectirig ,reinforcing ribs extending-along opposite edges thereof, and in which said arm structure includes recesses adapted to receive certain of said reinforcing ribs.

7. A pipe tong as set forth in claim 5, in which said lever includes a horizontally extending web portion and vertically projecting reinforcing webs extending along opposite sides thereof, and in which said arm structure includes recesses at opposite sides of said clamping surfaces and adapted to receive certain of said reinforcing ribs, and the height of said socket exceeding the thickness of said lever by an amount suflicient to permit said ribs to be withdrawn vertically from said recesses.

8. A pipe tong comprising a tong head; an outwardly tapered lever secured at one end to said head and having vertically projecting ribs extending along opposite edges thereof, said ribs converging toward the free end of said lever; and a hanger detachably secured to said lever and including a clamping element adjustable into clamping engagement with said lever, and vertically extending recesses adapted to receive said converging ribs, the width of said recesses exceeding that of said ribs to thereby enable said hanger to be secured tosaid lever at a plurality oi longitudinally spaced points.

HERBERT E. GRAU. 

